21-time Best Of winner Independent Records thrives where others have fallen

It's managed to survive competition from big-box stores like
Target and Best Buy, the demise of mega-chains like Tower and Sam
Goody, the consumer exodus from brick-and-mortar outlets to Amazon
online, the rise of a generation raised on MP3s, and the advent of Lady
Gaga.

Since its 1978 founding by brothers Lewis and Orville Lambert, the
Colorado Springs-based Independent Records & Video chain has
probably weathered more sea changes than the pirates of Somalia and the
Caribbean combined. And it has no intention of turning back now.

Co-owner Judith Negley, who came on board in 1981, laughingly
attributes the company's longevity to "sheer will and inertia."

"We've been really, really lucky in that we've attracted a lot of
great people," says Negley. "It's a labor of love for us, and I think a
lot of times it's been a matter of just saying we won't fail. And we
don't. Not that we haven't come awfully close."

Negley says she's no more worried about the current wave of online
music subscription services, like Rhapsody and Spotify, than she has
been about past challenges: "We're certainly dealing with different
ways of acquiring music, some of which we probably haven't imagined
yet, but I still see enough people in here every single day looking
through vinyl or whatever."

MJ jackets and fishnet

While Negley is sanguine about the company's ability to survive all
manner of technological challenges, she thinks it's unfortunate that
armies of MP3 listeners "don't understand what music should sound
like."

"I really have a hard time with downloaded music, as far as the
sound of it," says Negley. "I've never downloaded a track. I just can't
listen to it."

At least some Independent customers feel the same way, and also
value the tactile experience of shuffling through bins and patronizing
a local business. Plus, they can find non-music merchandise: "We've
always carried smoking accessories, we've always carried a lot of
T-shirts, gift items, jewelry. In the '80s, we had separate departments
called 'The News,' tiny boutique areas within the stores where we sold
Michael Jackson jackets and fishnet stockings.

"And we're still selling that kind of stuff. If we could get our
hands on Michael Jackson jackets, it'd be great."

And then there's the adult section.

"We sell adult video, but that's pretty much where we cap it off. I
mean, we've kind of gone into some other things occasionally, but I
don't really buy into that, so it's never been a big push. But adult
video, and having an environment that's not judgmental, that's been
huge for us."

Even in the best of times, Negley says the retail markup on recorded
music has never been huge. "The most we could ever hope for in music
was 30 percent, and that's pretty slender when you're thinking about
keeping the lights on and paying people and offering a health plan and
all that kind of stuff."

Local music and Focus

While typical retail chains tend to centralize and streamline the
decision-making process when it comes to determining what products
their stores will end up carrying, Negley favors a more interactive,
feedback-driven approach.

"I elicit opinions from everyone who works here, especially on new
releases," says Negley, who serves as the chain's main buyer. "The
stores can also order at their level. I still see it coming across [my
desk], but I definitely solicit their input. And we all work the stores
at least part of every day, so there's no disconnect at all."

Still, as with any business, there can be perceptions within the
community that are difficult to shake.

"No matter how hard we've tried in the past to get in with certain
types of music, there's this perception out there: 'Oh, Independent,
they sell rap music and heavy metal, and you couldn't sell my
stuff there.' Although right now, we have over 700 local artists on
consignment. It's a huge part of the health of our business. Those guys
— whether they be rappers or rock bands or whatever — have
supported us immensely, and we would not be here without them."

Negley says the company maintains an open-door policy when it comes
to carrying records by local musicians: "They can call me any time [at
447-0182]. They can also e-mail us at consignment@beingindependent.com,
and they'll get our consignment person right away. We take anything and
everything. We don't say, 'Oh, this sucks, go back and try it again' or
anything like that."

With three stores here in town, and an additional three located in
Denver, Security and Pueblo, Negley says the company's general
trajectory over the course of three decades has been toward steady
growth. Even so, a couple stores have closed in the northern part of
the city, which is, of course, the stomping ground of Focus on the
Family, whose protests the Independent chain has also survived.

"They kind of hassled us at the beginning," says Negley of the
evangelical ministry James Dobson brought here in 1991. "Then we
actually set up a talk show thing on television and their Minister of
Youth, or whatever it was, came and we debated. James was there, too,
and afterward we walked out and they both shook my hand. And I never
heard from them after that."